Abroad is What You Make It

My biggest piece of advice when studying abroad with DIS is to take courses that spark your interest, not just courses that are relevant to your future career or plan of study at Pitt. I am a major proponent of exploring new areas while abroad. You are immersing yourself in an entirely different culture, so you might as well immerse yourself in an entirely new field if it interests you! DIS is unique in the sense that they let you mix-and-match each course you take, and each course does not have to be part of a certain “major” like many other programs require. If you are interested in health, teaching, culinary, sustainable living, or anything else, you can take one of each of those courses throughout your time abroad with DIS!  
 
I am a pre-physician assistant student, so many of my classes at Pitt are centered around healthcare. However, I focused my study abroad experience around childhood development and early education because I was very interested in the courses offered in this field and had no previous exposure to it. I loved having a fresh start and learning something completely new for the first time. I think we often forget about how great that feels because we only take courses relevant to our plan of study for so long. Since I had no past experience with the material being taught, I could fully take in everything we were learning without any previous opinions. I also found it very interesting to learn from my peers, as they each had their own unique experiences with the course material.  
 
I think your study abroad experience is the perfect opportunity to explore interests beyond your major because it is a time of exploration for everyone. I met students from so many different backgrounds and with so many different futures ahead of them, and the one thing that everyone had in common was that we were doing something new for the first time. I have never felt so much support from people I barely knew, and it was really cool to see everyone being there for each other since nobody really knew exactly what we were doing. The study abroad community has been one of the most unique and heartwarming parts of my travels, and I think I really saw that once I got outside of my comfort zone with my academics.  
 
I came abroad for the same reasons that most other people come abroad—to learn more about myself and what I want in life. The opportunity to take whatever class I wanted really allowed me to realize what my potential interests were. I am now considering switching my healthcare track to occupational therapy, which I would not have thought much about if it had not been for my study abroad experience.